chapter 31 : Dragon Force
They fought Laxus 3v1 and the latter clearly proved his pretension and arrogance by fighting them without much effort despite Erza's support.
The problem was that firstly Laxus was much more experienced but more importantly, he manipulated lightning and neither of them could move at the speed of lightning, his attacks were mostly unstoppable and very brutal to the point of inflicting burns on the body of a fire Dragon Slayer like Natsu.
Erza with her lightning goddess armor and Gajeel did their best but they couldn't against the speed and power of the lightning manipulated by Laxus but it was Gajeel who took the most damage because Laxus really wanted to hurt him after what happened at the guild.
They ended up agreeing at some point to team fight and combine their strength against him and it worked quite well, Laxus took several hits but he was much more experienced and ended up ruining their attack rhythm.
Erza during this fight looked at Laxus with a new look, she had never faced him and believed that they were certainly of roughly similar strengths as S ranks but she understood the reality.
Laxus was a genius, he had the most impressive Dragon Slayer magic and far superior to Natsu's (Lightning is infinitely superior to fire in heat, speed or power.) and he had mastered his powers to a level where he could make his body elemental like Juvia.
His power wasn't everything but he also had an excellent tactical sense for analyzing his opponents' attacks, an area where he was on par with Mystogan.
Gray looked at the trio completely unable to get the upper hand on Laxus and suddenly he thought of something.
Gray: HEY, NATSU.
Natsu: DON'T TALK TO ME, I'M FIGHTING (dodges a blow).
Gray: It's not really my problem, I put a lachryma inside you, it was supposed to give you a power boost but apparently you still don't know how to use it. Can you at least feel it?
Natsu: What ?! I don't understand a single word of what you-(interrupted)
He took an attack from Laxus which threw him far back close to Gray's position who got up to come to Natsu slightly paralyzed on the ground with electric arcs on him, it was an effect of the electric shock in Laxus' attack.
Gray: Do you know you can actually die in this fight ?! You have a very strong body thanks to magic but your heart will not withstand these electric shocks indefinitely, it's the same for Erza and the other terrorist.
Natsu: That bastard Laxus, I underestimated him.
Gray: No, it's you who you overestimate every time in front of him. To fight a worthy opponent is to first frankly recognize his level compared to ours and Laxus in terms of power and experience has always been superior to you but stupid as you are, You thought you just had to believe in it to beat him.
Natsu: How about you ? Do something instead of standing there playing the big boss.
Gray: You are my dear rival, right? I help you evolve. Well, no time to waste, I told you I placed a powerful lachryma inside you when you were dying like a dead rat. Remember how you felt when you ate the lachryma ice from the Tower of Heaven to beat Jellal? That warm lump in your abdomen...
Natsu: YOU'RE THE DEAD RAT. WHAT IS THIS STORY OF LACHRYMA ?! Wait…how do you know what happened at that moment (Gray had read from his memories) ?
Gray: Shut up and remember this feeling, it will help you resonate with lachryma.
Natsu groaned a little but trusted Gray closed his eyes for several seconds before suddenly opening them.
Natsu: WHAT WAS THAT STUFF ?!
Gray: Do what you did with the lachryma ice if you want to stand a chance against Laxus.
"After Laxus I promise to make you bite the dust too" Natsu did as he was told and merged his magic with the magical essence contained in the lachryma, the effect was immediate and a warm magical pressure emanated from Natsu.
"I'M ON FIRE…" He roared as he felt his power increase sharply while on his cheeks and on certain other areas of his body, his skin took on the texture of dragon scales, he was in Dragon Force.
Those who were fighting stopped to look in Natsu's direction.
Gajeel: Salamander!! What is this power ?!
Erza: This power is like facing Jellal !
Laxus: This kid...that's a surprise !!
"It's okay, you can rest. I'll take care of the other power cell..." Natsu said as he walked in front of Erza and Gajeel.
Gajeel: Salamander, who do you take us for ? We're going to-(interrupted)
Erza: We're going to embarrass him.
Gajeel: What ?!
Gray: You came to confront Laxus without any real idea of his power or any plan and it was a failure. Erza has seen Natsu in this form before and knows how strong he is, let him face Laxus alone otherwise you will hinder him.
"He's right, I believe in Natsu. Unless you are able to get into this state too I ask you to let him be and if he is ever in trouble then we will come and help him…" She said to Gajeel placing her hand on his shoulder.
Natsu had a confident smile as he faced Laxus and he wasted no time before charging towards him and Laxus was surprised by Natsu's speed, he took a series of blows which he could barely do anything against.
He could barely avoid certain blows but he took many others.
Erza and Gajeel were speechless Gajeel was shocked by Natsu's speed but Erza realized she was wrong.
She thought he would have the same level of power as against Jellal but this Dragon force was even stronger than the one she had seen.
Laxus attacked by sending several electric arcs to Natsu who managed to avoid them not by going faster than lightning but by moving on instinct and constantly, staying two seconds on the spot against Laxus was a misfortune and he understood.
They were moving so fast that a normal person would only see shadows moving quickly only to have collisions letting out flames and electric arcs.
At some point, Natsu wanted to end it. He inflated his lungs to provoke a Fire Dragon's Roar but Laxus changed into a quick streak of electricity to appear behind Natsu and when he returned to his normal form, Natsu already had hot flames in each of his hands.
"Clever, very clever..." Laxus said realizing that Natsu had tricked him, he never intended to project a Roar but he bet Laxus was going to try something like that to get closer so he prepared his most powerful attack at close range, the Crimson Lotus.
He attacked Laxus with all his might and Gray knew what was going to happen. In a single gesture, the walls, doors and windows of the cathedral were covered by a solid layer of ice.
Natsu performed the purple lotus and the entire cathedral was immediately engulfed in flames except the area where Erza, Gajeel and Gray were who protected them by releasing a strong aura of ice which changed the fire into cold vapor within a radius of 2m around them.
There was like a tornado of fire in the room for a whole 15 seconds and the others believed that Natsu had won this confrontation, Natsu himself had attacked with all his strength so he himself hoped with beating Laxus who in the flames at gathered electricity in his hands.
"You...Mystogan...Gray and the old man, YOU'RE SERIOUSLY STARTING TO PISS ME OFF" Laxus screamed as he discharged electricity at himself and within seconds his magic pressure increased and sent out a shockwave that knocked Natsu off balance.
Before his eyes he saw Laxus in the flames begin to change, his muscles became bulkier, his hair was spiked up, electricity came out of his eyes, his canines grew and dragon scales appeared on his arms, his back, his abdomen and in the areas where he was burned, he had released his dragon force and the shock was not small for the others.
Gray:…
Erza: HIM TOO ?!
Gajeel: WHAT IS THIS ?! THIS IS EVEN MORE POWERFUL THAN THE FORCE RELEASED BY THE SALAMANDER JUST NOW.
Natsu: That's...!! Do you have it TOO ?!
Laxus: You really surprised me a lot, Natsu. It's true, I have to admit that you have really grown up and even that you are worthy of being my opponent but...
*KHSSSSSSSS*
With a quick drag of electricity, he moved closer to Natsu only to reappear in front of Natsu
"You lack experience, power and practice." Laxus said as he threw an electrically charged punch at Natsu whose face had a shocked expression, he couldn't even see the attack coming it was so fast and he was sent flying by the cut.
Erza: So fast!
Gajeel: WHAT WAS THAT?!
Gray: Laxus is 5 years older than Natsu and I, he is much more experienced and his magic is extremely powerful. It was to be expected that he knew more about the facets of Dragon Slayer magic compared to Natsu because he has more years of practice. This power boost, the scales and the physical improvements that Natsu benefited from are like an awakening mode of the strength of a dragon proportional to the body of the mage and it was obvious that Laxus had already discovered it before Natsu and you.
Erza: Did you know all that before we started the fight?
Gray: It's not knowledge but anticipation and forecasting, Laxus is not crazy enough to do all that without having an asset. He's truly convinced that he is the strongest in the guild.
"AND I AM..." Laxus screamed as he slammed his leg into the ground as a powerful wave of electricity spread out and nearly destroyed the church completely, it was an extremely powerful attack that the others couldn't. couldn't avoid because it was going at lightning speed.
***Natsu's victory against Laxus in the manga really didn't make sense. It is extremely ridiculous to think that fire can dominate lightning just because of will and friendship. We're talking about lightning, THE FUCKING LIGHTNING !! Bro Mashima really did a lot of inconsistent things in this manga but he's the creator of it, we respect it***